The Italian olive oil industry in the global competitive scenario

Abstract

The current paper analyzes the reasons behind the difficulties of the Italian olive oil industry to compete in the world markets. The analysis highlights that these complexities can be related with two core factors: stagnant demand in the main producer/consumer countries and strong competition arising from the Spanish olive oil industry increasingly involved also in processing and trade. In addition, these weakness factors are boosted by the market power exerted by large retail chains that are now the main channel in which olive oil is retailed in the domestic market.